October 1st 2012 The Things They Carried Close Reading p. 1-26 - Pages 3 and 4: So many items being carried… what is the purpose? Quote(s): “Kiowa also carried his grandmothers distrust for the white man…” (Pg. 3) “…The poncho weighed almost 2 pounds‚ but it was worth every ounce” (pg. 3) Meaningful words/ phrases: pounds‚ weighed‚ grunts‚ Kodacolor‚ Bonnie and Clyde Overall meaning/ author’s purpose: The soldiers do not only carry material goods‚ they also carry emotions. Such is Kiowa’s
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The Things They Carried is an influential reflection possible experience of soldiers up close and in their minds during and after the Vietnam War. The work is‚ at the same time‚ O’Brian’s memoir‚ but also collection of fictional short stories. Throughout the book O’Brien straightaway shapes the line between fact and fiction by consecrating the novel on to the individual soldiers‚ where the reader soon discovers that they are fictional characters. O’Brian continues to confuse the audience with this
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A. Park The Things They Carried The symbols in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” are essential to understanding the soldiers and their lives during the Vietnam War. At the opening of the story‚ Lieutenant Jimmy Cross would dig into his foxhole and read the letters while imagining romance with Martha; however‚ at the end of the story after the death of Ted Lavender‚ he “crouched at the bottom of his foxhole and burned Martha’s letters” (402). The inner feelings of Cross would be mistakenly
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original truth‚ the board does not change shape and the only thing that really changes is how it is perceived by others. A painting can be interpreted in many different ways but the original truth will always be there. The connection between reality and truth as presented in Tim O’Brien’s post-modern novel The Things They Carried is that the truth of things is abstract and is determined by what we say about things and often what we say about things determines the way we think about truth. • In the chapter
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Memories The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and The Road by Cormac McCarthy both deal with the profound affects that memories have upon the actions and understandings of men. In both novels memories weigh heavily on the main characters’ souls‚ but each man carries that burden differently. The results may vary but the impact of what has happened and what is remembered changes their perspectives and ultimately leads to a unique ending for each man. Do the memories that are carried shape or change
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Be careful! Cowards are contagious. The more things they run away from‚ the more their nightmares will transfigure into their host. The stories expressed by Tim O’Brien‚ author of “The Things They Carried” highlights cowardice acts made by several of the characters embodied in the novel. The kinds of cowards found in this book are not found in the typical day to day life. Instead they are only present in war times‚ and commit acts that can be challenged to whether they’re really acts of cowardice
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Shame is a reoccuring theme throughout The Things They Carried. Shame makes people do things they don’t want to do just so they can get rid of the fear of shame. It drove soldiers to do acts they would’ve never done. Many of the characters have shame as a primary motivator. It leads them to war and it keeps them there. It is the one thing that keeps them from shooting themselves in the foot so that they would be discharged from the army or some similar such act. But some characters‚ like Curt Lemon
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The Things They Carried: Necessities In The Things They Carried ‚ the characters themselves probably could not tell you why they carried many of the things they did. The things they carried can be divided into three basic groups‚ the things that everyone had to carry in order to survive‚ the things that individuals chose to carry‚ and the mental burdens that many carried without choice. The necessities that the men were forced to carry were‚ for example‚ P- 38 can openers‚ pocket knives‚ matches
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The Violence of Man and Nature In Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat and The Blue Hotel‚ violence is presented to the reader as one of several themes. The theme of violence stands out because it is prominent throughout these two works. The main focus of the nature of the violence seen in The Open Boat deals with the threat nature poses to humankind. Sprinkled among the episodes of natural violence‚ the reader is exposed to brief periods when the crew itself breaks out into violence. In The Blue
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Naturalist writers of short stories in the early 1900’s often conclude their stories with a death or tragedy. Stephen Crane’s "The Open Boat"� and Jack London’s "To Build A Fire"� both follow this pattern by illustrating events leading up to and including death. More importantly‚ each author defines nature and it’s bearing on his or her ideas of society‚ hierarchy‚ and morality. Whereas each author has a different definition of nature‚ their ideas on other aspects of life run both parallel and perpendicular
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